Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci Getting In on 'The Children Act'

FilmNation has already sold out internationally on the project, based on Ian McEwan's novel.

Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci have come aboard The Children Act, based on Ian McEwan's 2014 novel.

FilmNation and BBC Films are co-financing the project, which is being produced by Duncan Kenworthy (Notting Hill, Love Actually) and directed by Richard Eyre (Notes on a Scandal, Iris).

The story will see Thompson play Fiona Maye, an eminent High Court judge in London, whose marriage to Tucci's American professor Jack is at breaking point. In this moment of personal crisis, Fiona is asked to rule on the case of Adam (played by Dunkirk's Fionn Whitehead), a brilliant boy who is refusing the blood transfusion that will save his life. With Adam three months from his 18th birthday and still legally a child, Fiona questions whether or not she should intervene and force him to live.

FilmNation, which is handling worldwide rights, also has revealed that it has sold out the project overseas.

International distributors for the film include eOne in the U.K. and Canada, Tele Munchen in Germany, BIM in Italy, Vertigo in Spain, Roadshow in Australia, Kino in Japan, Swen in LATAM, Cineart in Benelux, Scanbox in Scandinavia, Spentzos in Greece, Lev in Israel, Italia in the Middle East, Ster Kinekor in South Africa and Bravos in Hong Kong.

Thompson is repped by Christian Hodell at Hamilton Hodell in the U.K., and CAA in the U.S.; Tucci is repped by Oriana Elia at Curtis Brown in the U.K., and CAA and Anonymous Content in the U.S.; and Whitehead is repped by Sophie Holden at Curtis Brown.